One of the questions
I have been getting alot lately is, "Why are steam juicers not shown on your
site?" So I thought I would take some time to write an in-depth article with
comparison chart of the "fresh juicers" vs. the steam juicer.

Juicers that make fresh juice are the type of juicers we choose to
offer. They take fresh produce, and create fresh, enzyme rich, living juice.
We choose to offer this type of juicer, since this juicer produces a "live"
juice. A live juice contains the highest possible amount of Purified Water, Vitamins, Minerals, Enzymes,
Phytochemicals including Antioxidants, Proteins,
Carbohydrates, Fats, Fiber andOther Unknown Nutrients. We
have had numerous customers report to us that by drinking fresh-made juice, they feel
better, loose weight, have more energy and are overall healthier. We are all
told that we should eat 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, and juicing is an
excellent way to boost the amount of fruits and vegetables you consume. For the
highest benefit, this juice should be consumed right after its made. If you did want
to store the juice, you can read more about that here.

Steam juicers on the other hand do not create "fresh and
live" juice. They cook the juice. When the produce is heated, enzymes are lost
and destruction of other nutrients in the juice occurs. Most canned or bottled
juices purchased in the store have been heated so they are "shelf-stable" and
are devoid of enzymes. This type of juice has lower nutrient quality than a fresh
juice. It is said one of the main benefits of juicing is the enzymatic activity of
the juice, which is lost when the juice is heated.

Fresh juicers work by using mechanical means to break open the cell
walls of the produce (such as shredding, grinding or pressing) which extracts the juice
out of the produce. There are several types of mechincal juicers, such as
centrifugal, centrifugal ejection, masticating, single auger, twin gear, and press style
juicers. You can learn more about these type of juicers here.
The majority of fruit and vegetable juicers work well on most fruits and
vegetables, although challenges can occur when juicing some fruits. Please read more about that in this article.

The steam juicer works by steaming the produce to cause the cell
walls to break and causes the juice to fall into a juice kettle which is then drained into
jars or bottles. Due to the heat and extraction method, this juice is concentrated.
Steamed juice can be used to make concentrates, syrups, jams and jellies.
Steam juicers can only juice certain soft fruits, such as: tomatoes, berries,
grapes, cherries, apricots, rhubarb, peaches, pears, strawberries, raspberries, currents,
and apples.

Steam juicing was invented so that one could basically
"can" the juices, after which no refrigeration is required, since the juice has
been "sterilized" and contains no enzymes.

Steam juicers are often constructed out of Aluminum or Stainless
Steel. If you did decided to purchase a steam juicer, I would recommend going with a
Stainless Steel model as there can be problems with cooking in Aluminum. People have
mentioned that "Alzheimer's" can be caused by eating and/or cooking with
Aluminum.

Lets do a comparison of the Steam Juicer and one of our favorite
Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Juicers.

We hope you have learned more about the two
juicers featured in this comparison.

Summary:
The Steam juicer can have its benefit for some people that wish to preserve their soft
produce in order to make juice concentrate, jams, jellies or syrups. For making
juice, we feel its not optimal, since it destroys all the enzymes and leads to the
destruction of other nutrients in the juice.

Fresh juicers preserve all the enzymes, and keep most of the other
nutrients intact, but must be consumed very soon after it is made..

Here are some alternatives on how to preserve your produce while
maintaining enzymes and retaining higher levels of other nutrients:

Freeze soft fruits whole, that can later be thawed, and eaten whole,
or placed into the blender to make fresh smoothies, or used as a topping on deserts, etc.

Juice the produce in a fresh juicer, and then freeze the juice.
Farmers that process apples into apple cider most often do this. They store the
apple juice in plastic milk-style jugs, and freeze them. The sell them frozen, and
when you want to drink them, you thaw and drink. You
can read more about the best ways to store your juice here.

Dehydration has been used for thousands of years to preserve produce.
Purchase a dehydrator to dehydrate your fruits
and vegetables preserving their enzyme content.

We hope this article has taught you more about the difference
between the steam juicer and a fresh fruit and vegetable juicer and have offered you some
suggestions based on your needs.